Road to Dolphins cleared for Reggie Nelson

The road to Reggie Nelson? Wide open, people. Wide open.

The former first-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars was something of a disappointment early on but he found his way to the Cincinnati Bengals in 2010 prospered under secondary coach Kevin Coyle. Nelson, 28, had four interceptions, eight passes defensed, two forced fumbles and two sacks last season

Well, Coyle is Miami's defensive coordinator now. See a connection building?

And Nelson, from Palm Bay High school, is a Florida native. More connecting.

And the Dolphins have been searching for an upgrade at free safety. More connecting.

And the Bengals had the chance to franchise Nelson but decided instead to put the tag on kicker MIke Nugent.

hOpportunity!!!

So if the Dolphins want to bring in a player who knows the new system and will be ready to call coverages in the secondary for that system the first day, Nelson is your guy.

It should be noted the Dolphins got one interception out of the free safety position last season -- that one coming from Reshad Jones.

By the way, the Tennessee Titans were said to be interested in Nelson, but they franchised their own safety Michael Griffin thus they are probably off the free safety market.

Comments

[The Crusher]

agree sammo, i think coyles helps sean and reshad do the same. sign nelson and move reshad to SS (this way he doesn't have to be the field general the FS does & he can just react and stop thinking about what to do)

[ALoco]

OSCAR IS A NAME FOR A RING MASTER IN A CIRCUS .........

[Sammo]

Also with nelson watching smiths back maybe just maybe the damage done on that side of the field wont be so bad this year.assuming miami does nothing to upgrade at cb that is. "

[The Crusher]

fin4ever, paul s. is a big loss but it probably means we will see more 4-3 with odrick,mcdanials,and starks manning the DT spots.

[Homer]

Nelson will lead us to the SB.

[Homer]

Can Nelson play QB?

[dusty bottoms]

hilarious, lets get excited about nelson

[Sammo]

Big paul wont be a big loss. I never.liked our 3-4 set. Our ends never seemed big emough always getting pushed around. 4-3 makes more sense are our d linemen are athletic and active

[Gray Matter]

Losing Soliai will be a huge loss. Wait and see how things are without him. He is a rare specimen and for those of you that think otherwise, watch how hot the market is for him.

[oscar canosa]

Then, who is called Dolphins 77, you stick to Baseball and leave us alone we Dolphins fans here.

[dusty bottoms]

market will be huge for him, doesnt make him great for us. let the lazy bum leave, pittsburgh will sign him

[MJ]

Ross is too cheap to pay Soliai.

[oscar canosa]

I wonder how many actual People are posting here?

[PhucYu]

Ha.
Henne not franchised!
I no swallow PriceMaster's load!
PriceMaster not hold my ears and make me cry!
PriceMaster not turn me over because he mad at me for crying!
We not see PriceMaster anymore!

[oscar canosa]

I know that in late night, there is only one, perhaps 2 posters here.

[Turd Ferguson]

Then we could chant "Reggie" on offense & defense!!

[Randy S.]

As far as QB goes, the time is NOW people. We have holes at QB, RG/RT(I think Murtha or Jerry can fill one of those positions), pass rusher, FS, TE, and nickel. There's enough talent on this team to make a bigtime run with Manning at QB for 2-3 years. Sign him and Nelson as FAs. Trade down in the first for another second and draft DE/OLB, QB to develop, RG/RT, CB, and TE. By the end of the 4th round, you've plugged every serious need on the team. Next year they can go with WR, RB, LB, SS.

[The Crusher]

D-line depth w/o langford and soliai is definitely an issue. we have tony m, odrick,starks,wake,and merling(if the light goes on),baker and francis. i have faith in the 1st 4, but after that it's a crapshoot

[oscar canosa]

Trade down nothing. We strive for the best.

[dusty bottoms]

get griffin!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[oscar canosa]

Ok

[Professor Poo]

Merling will be cut. He's useless.

[greg z.]

kinda strange that ireland never addressed our issues at FS or had a meaningful QB competition either. makes you wonder if he's nfl ready?

[dusty bottoms]

makes u wonder?? think we have known for awhile ireland is horrible, joke of the league

[MJ]

How long do we have to endure Ireland's incompetence?

[Yesterday's Gone]

After signing Manning where's the money coming from?

We need a pass rusher opposite Wake. Problem is, opposite is the pass rush side which seems to be the one rookie pass rushers dont dominate right away. See Koa Misi. IMO, that's why it may be better to sign Robert Mathis, he's already a proven commodity on the opposite side of great pass rusher(Dwight Freeney). While Misi continues to be further developed.

My concern is if we really do what would make sense. Do we have enough room under the salary cap to sign Manning, Mathis, and Nelson? It would be great if we can pull that off.

[dusty bottoms]

mathis is already gone. signed with colts again. and luckily manning wont come here

[Yesterday's Gone]

Its beginning to seem more and more likely Soliai will be allowed to walk. It clears more cap space to go after a guy like Mathis and Nelson after signing Manning.

Im sure allowing Soliai to walk will cause some drop off in the run defense but not a highly signmificant one. Signing guys like Mathis and Nelson greatly bolsters the "3rd down" defense. Most important because its the down that gets good defenses off the field.

Does no good to be great against the run if it still doesnt get you off the field on 3rd downs.

[Gray Matter]

We won't get Peyton.
We won't get RG3.
We won't get Flynn.

Matt Moore will be our starter with some nobody to back him up.

[dusty bottoms]

yesterday wake up, mathis signed with colts already

[Yesterday's Gone]

dustybottom,

Just pulled it up on PFT. Mathis has been "franchised" by the Colts. Says they're closing to signing a longterm deal though.

Damn, Mathis would have been just what bwe needed opposite Wake.

[Gray Matter]

Keep Soliai and forget chasing a QB for now. Start Flynn and draft to fill your other holes.

[Gray Matter]

Soliai is be more valuable than Flynn or a Manning with a secret rehab status.

[dusty bottoms]

soliai is gone no matter what, they have known that forever. he will be pittsburgh steeler. miami doesnt want to waste that much money on a lazy guy again

[Gray Matter]

I don't like secrets. Until Mannings abilities are a known quantity, it makes it difficult to comment on him.

[DolphinDave]

Neither Flynn nor RG3 would beat out Matt Moore in a fair competition.

[JOE PHILBIN'S CLIP BOARD]

They can keep Mathis. If we get Manning, then DE will be handled in the draft.

Nelson is another player that our coaches and GM have intimate knowledge. Let's hope they make the right choice.

[Gray Matter]

If Soliai was not performing that well, he wouldn't have so many admirers. You watch, we let him walk and within two years he will have a Ring. All of a sudden people will gripe about letting him go.

[DolphinDave]

I'm griping about letting him go now. The guy is a specimen.

[JOE PHILBIN'S CLIP BOARD]

Soliai was invisible most of the year! This deserves a big contract? We can draft more DL.

[dusty bottoms]

dolphindave u could even beat out moore

[Gray Matter]

Tell me why GM's on playoff caliber teams will make a play for Soliai if he was so bad. Whose player analysis is better? The GM of Pitt or yours?

[Gray Matter]

Even Miami wants to keep Soliai, but they want to pay him less than his worth. Typical.

[Gray Matter]

Soliai even if you think he stinks is not easy to replace.

[JOE PHILBIN'S CLIP BOARD]

We need 4-5 extremely capable WR's and TE's.

Dream team.
Marshall, draft Blackmon, sign Reggie Wayne, hartline and Bess. Draft a few TE's.

Forget about it.

[dusty bottoms]

wayne,lol blackmon wont be there

[JOE PHILBIN'S CLIP BOARD]

And Reggie in the backfield too!!

[Gray Matter]

We will trade down and pick up another #2.

[dusty bottoms]

better trade up for griffin, least we keep hearing miami and wash both talking to rams. good start

[JOE PHILBIN'S CLIP BOARD]

Dusty,

You never know!! I think Reggie Wayne might have a few left. Actually Pierre G. Needs a little more respect too.

[Tampa Finfan for Life]

Love poker.
Play every card an every possibility.
Have been big on Nelson for a while.
Force Skins to play.

[Gray Matter]

The Rams will come down in price for the #2 because everyone knows they don't want to pick there.

[dusty bottoms]

good gray, just make sure we get the pick

[Sammo]

I could see washington getting griffen.shannahan loves mobile passers and he could finally have his own young qb to mold.

[Tampa Finfan for Life]

Sometimes the best hand doesn't always win.
Stay in the game until the cards are played out.
Phons might get what they want.

[Khalid]

I hope we go after Russell Wilson as he could has the tools to be a great QB. 72 percent completion rate 31 tds vs 4 ints!!! He has won consistently in two different systems! Get Manning a draft Wilson in the mid rounds to be groomed!

[Tampa Finfan for Life]

Phins, not Phons.

[Q]

Anyone ever thought about signing manning, and then trading him to the browns for their second 1round pick?
Just to make it easier to go get that 2overall deal done.

GO GET NELSON BTW.

[fin4life]

The 8th overall pick of the 2011 draft Jake Locker signed a 4 Yr. 12 Million deal with a nice 4.5 Million bonus which made him a very friendly 3 Mil 2011 CAP hit. If you take into account the 5% Yearly increase we should sign our player this Yr. to about 12.5 Million and depending on the signing bonus manage his CAP figure nicely. You average out all our 2012 picks and begin to see we can get our Rookies in camp for 5 to 6 Million. The problem then lies in the big long term deals Ireland will have to ink while giving out BIG signing bonuses to the players we target in FA.

In Nelson you've got a player who will want what OJ Otogwe got from Wash. last Yr. which was a 30 Mil/5 Yr. deal. I also love the idea of bringing in Mathis but realistically I don't see how he signs on the dotted line for under 6 Million a Yr. himself. The only way we pull this off is by giving out ridiculous sums in signing bonuses in unrealistic 5 to 6 Yr. deals for players with the exception of Nelson who are lucky to have a 3 Yr. NFL shelf life left and then upon release will cost us a Fort Knox like mint in that seasons CAP.

Another thing everybody forgets is that Manning will come in with a low CAP # for a player of his stature but IF he performs will probably have an escalator in his deal pushing his base to 20 Million or more in 2013. IF he performs there is NO WAY IN HELL he won't have this worded in any deal he signs to believe other wise is being completely unrealistic. These moves need to be VERY well thought out because we will be in CAP HELL by 2014 with these moves so if it's the chosen route we better have a Super Bowl parade sprinkled in their somewhere OR sink even further down the cosmic bunny hole with nothing to show for it but PAIN!!

[WICKY RILLIAMS]

Signing Nelson would be a great move. We also need another pass rusher, which I would like to see taken care of with the number 8 pick. Defensive tackle or offensive tackle in the 2nd round. DT is deep in this years draft. I think we should also go after Carl Nicks, prob the best guard in football. We need to protect Manning or Flynn (Long, Incognito, Pouncey, Nicks and a Right tackle) sounds good to me. Another big play wideout would be great as well, to free up Brandon Marshall. Lets see how it goes, im feeling confident.